The week preceding Easter is mostly coming to an end and yet, I still have so many chocolate ideas to share with you. I promise to post the second Molten chocolate recipe soon (for anyone impatiently waiting, hint hint MM 😉 !) Don’t we say that the best comes to those who know to wait? (in French we say that, smart eh?) tout arrive à qui sait attendre!

Sunday, I am a host. That sounds ceremonial but in reality what it simply means is that I will have more than 2, 4, 6, 8 mouths to feed. You all remember that Sunday is Easter day and we are having a very informal lunch between friends. I love to be a host and prepare buffets, decorate tables, make little litlle nibbles everywhere, hidden in the house for us to eat. It is quite exciting. I actually have so many ideas for dishes I want to prepare that I know I should have 50 mouths to feed. But I have to stay grounded, en gardant les pieds (grands) sur terre (literally, with my feet (big) on the floor). I am alone in the kitchen and no matter how much energy I have or how organized I am, I already know that I have to remove a few things from my wish list. So I am running a chocolate test for dessert. Another of my rehearsals.

So my test dessert is going to use white chocolate.

Usually not my cup of tea but if you remember this recipe here, I have to admit that it is really growing more and more on me. And this dessert is the perfect example.

My current Favorite Cookbook

I really appreciate when I start using a cookbook, and then keep going back to it for more, new recipes to try, all original and delightful because they bring surprises, not to mention that they turn successful each time.

Tentations by Philippe Conticini is my current favorite cookbook. Every single recipe I have tried has worked just as I wanted, and this chocolate recipe is no exception. You would think that the recipes are just classics and they are, but always with a little twist that make them different.
For the recipe I chose, I had to change the proportions because unless 1 serving was for super mini miniature people, I really think they were off. And we like our desserts, don’t we? Totally simple, using basic ingredients and gelatin.

Gelatin

Did you know that in France, we used gelatin sheets, weighing about 2 g each and that before I arrived in the United States, I was fully foreign to the concept of gelatin powder. When I initially started using gelatin powder, I felt like a child using a new electrical appliance, who yet did not know how to plug it to make it work. It looks like a very tiny adjustement we will admit, but it really created a problem for me. I now of course master the gelatin powder technique quite well – yes yes, there is technique involved here -, but regularly ask my friends or family members to send me my gelatin sheets. Old mother Nature comes back. I prefer it. No question. What is the difference? To use a gelatin sheet (hard thin transparent sheet), you need to soak it first in cold water for a few mns. It becomes soft and you can then remove excess water and add it to warm liquids so that it melts. I just have to reckon that I love to play with it and see it disappear. Pouf! In no time, it is melted.

White Chocolate Gelée and raspberries with basil

(for 4 people)

You need:For the chocolate layer

120 g white chocolate (4 1/4 oz)

20 cl water (lukewarm) (a little less than 1 cup) ; (1 cup = 22.5 cl)

2 gelatin sheets (4 g)

For the gelée

120 g raspberries (4 oz raspberries)

50 g sugar (3 tbsp)

2 tsp lime juice (2 tsp)

For the decoration

A few basil leaves

10 g shredded coconut

30 g sugar (1.75 tbsp)

Steps:

Melt the white chocolate in a pot.

Prepare the gelatin following the instructions on the package.

Bring the temperature of the water to lukewarm and then while mixing, add it, with the gelatin to the melted chocolate.

Mix well and let rest until it thickens.

For the raspberries, simply mix them with the sugar and lime juice.

To prepare your dessert, start by a layer of raspberry gelée.

Slowly pour the chocolate. Go slow so that it does not fall into the raspberry gelée.

Place in the fridge until it thickens.

To decorate, mix the coconut and the sugar.

Wet your basil leaves and dip them in the coconut/sugar mixture.

Decorate with the basil leaves and the raspberries.

Tested and approved! Really nice!

Adapted from Tentations, as I find the proportions a little off, too little of everything

26 comments

How I wish I could be at your Easter celebration! I will be having my own with my family. But I know what you mean … we start with so many ideas of things to make and then we also have to cut some out because there is no time/space for all the food!

This dessert looks tremendous. I don’t use gelatin often but your description was very interesting … I will have to give this one a try!

Absolutely beautiful dessert Bea!! And the quail egg photo before this…visually stunning! You certainly are taking fab photos of everything that goes onto your kitchen worktable. 🙂 I’m actually envious that you have the time to make so many wonderful recipes. Me? I’m just too exhausted when I get home from work, all I want to do is head for the liquor cabinet.

Regarding your comment about the tiny mejiro eggs, they are really offwhite in color with just the palest hint of green. Really cute to look at.

You can get gelatin sheets in the US from pastry supply shops (or try online). They are much better and easier to use. Still, I bring back gelatin from the US too since I can’t break free of old habits (although it does smell a bit barnyard-y when you heat it.)
Also, if you pour the white chocolate over the back of the spoon, that’ll help it not mix into the bottom layer of raspberries. Still, you don’t need my advice; your dessert looks lovely…bonne Pacques!

Beautiful dessert for the summer! And white chocolate can be very nice, though it can also be way too sweet. There is a delicious Estonian white chocolate with dried blueberries that I simply adore!
I grew up using gelatine powder, and only recently began using sheets – which I definitely prefer now.

I agree the granulated gelatin is messy and time consuming. By the way, geat website!
You are now one of my favorite choices for cooking information, and I’m classically trained in French cooking! I have a great online source for products not readily available in the States: Pastry Chef.com. Here’s their web address:http://www.pastrychef.com/

ma’am, can i have this recipe, because this coming last week of august there will be a cooking competition in our school…..if you would permit me to get this recipe……uhmmmm,hope you will gonna give me another recipe for the dessert……or if you can give me an additional layer of your recipe of white chocolate gelee with raspberry…..please….thankz mam

Béatrice Peltre is a food writer, stylist and photographer working out of her home studio in Boston.
She is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe Food Section, and her work has appeared in many publications
such as Saveur, Food and Wine, Whole Living, Fine Cooking, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, the Huffington Post,
the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, Edible Boston, Living France, the New York Times Diner’s Journal,
and in many other international magazines.